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The crucial Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza has opened for the first time since Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel and the ensuing retaliatory siege and aerial bombardment, spurring hope that the almost 100 Australians trapped in the enclave will be able to leave.
Video footage of the border checkpoint shows the crossing opening, which came after Qatar brokered a deal between Israel, Hamas and Egypt in coordination with the United States to release all foreign nationals and critically injured civilians from Gaza, according to sources familiar with the talks.
The opening of the crossing raises hope that the 88 Australians who are in the Gaza Strip will be able to leave the territory.
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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has been in contact with those citizens to tell them about the potential of the border opening today.
"The Australian government is assisting 88 individuals in Gaza, including Australian citizens, permanent residents and immediate family members," a DFAT spokesperson said before the crossing opened.
"We understand the situation is extremely distressing for them and their loved ones.
"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is communicating with all individuals registered with us in Gaza about departure options, including to make them aware of the possibility of the opening of the Rafah border on 1 November.
"Consular officials in Cairo are ready to provide support to those Australians and their family members who cross into Egypt.
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"Australia continues to work with authorities and support international efforts to establish a safe passage corridor both for humanitarian supplies and for Australians and their family members who want to depart Gaza."
But communicating with the Australians on the ground is becoming increasingly difficult, with phone and internet connectivity in Gaza once again cut off.
Internet access advocacy group NetBlocks.org has told the Associated Press that the territory "is in the midst of a total or near-total telecoms blackout" in line with the blackout imposed over the weekend.
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Connectivity was previously cut from late Friday (early Saturday AEDT) to early Sunday, coinciding with the entry of large numbers of ground troops into Gaza in what Israel described as a new stage in the war.
Rafah is the only Gazan border crossing not controlled by Israel. While it has been opened to allow limited aid convoys into the enclave, no people have been allowed out of Gaza through the crossing since the start of the recent conflict escalation.
Egyptian military personnel and tanks were seen near Rafah before the opening of the border.
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In addition to foreign nationals, 81 severely wounded Palestinians are set to be allowed out of Gaza through the crossing.
An Egyptian border official told CNN the civilians from Gaza will be allowed to travel for treatment in hospitals in Egypt.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media, said the patients were "seriously injured" and the Rafah border crossing is set to open on Wednesday morning (tonight AEDT) to allow them to pass.
The 81 patients are currently undergoing treatment in hospitals across Gaza, many of whom require surgical intervention in operating rooms that is not currently available in Gaza, the director of Al Shifa Hospital, Dr Mohammed Abu Silmiyeh, told CNN.
They will be discharged from the hospitals in Gaza and then complete their treatments in a field hospital in Egypt's Sheikh Zuweid city, he added.
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The director of the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai, Khaled Zayed, also confirmed the location of the field hospital to CNN, saying Egypt is "ready to receive them".
The news comes as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza escalates in the face of Israel's siege.
Already one of the most densely populated places on the planet, hundreds of thousands of Gazans have left the north of the territory to flee Israel's developing ground assault and air strikes.
Overnight, the Israeli military attacked a refugee camp in northern Gaza, killing a high number of civilians, including children, in order to strike a senior Hamas commander.
– With CNN, Associated Press
